Operation Morvarid

Part of Iran-Iraq War

Date

28–29 November 1980
(1 day)

Location

Parts of the Persian Gulf and Iraq

Result

Decisive Iranian victory

Destruction of the oil terminals at Mina al-Bakr and Khor al-Amaya
Destruction of 80% of the Iraqi Navy
Blocking of the port of Al Faw
Destruction of many Iraqi oil installations, early warning bases and SAM sites

Belligerents

Iran

Iraq

Commanders and leaders

Abulhassan Banisadr
(President of Iran)

M.Ebrahim Hemmati

Bahram Afzali
(Commander of Iranian Navy)

Mostafa Madani Nejad
(Commander of Task Force 421)

Javad Fakouri
(Minister of Defence)

Strength

6 amphibious vessels
2 missile boats
Unknown number of marines and aircraft

8 motor-torpedo boats
5 fast-attack craft
Unknown number of ground forces
8 MiG-23 and several MiG-21 fighters
Several-SAM sites

Casualties and losses

1 Missile boat sunk
1 F-4 Phantom downed
1 F-4 Phantom damaged
Unknown marine losses

5 Osa II boats sunk
4 P-6 boats sunk
1 Aérospatiale Super Frelon downed
6 MiG-23s downed
1 MiG-21 downed
Several SAM-sites destroyed
Several oil terminals destroyed
Unknown ground losses

The day of that naval victory (28 November 1980) is celebrated in Iran as Navy Day

Decisive Iranian victory

Operation Morvarid (Persian: عملیات مروارید‎‎, meaning "Pearl") was an operation launched by the Iranian Navy and Air Force against the Iraqi Air Defence sites on 28 November 1980 in response to Iraq positioning radar and monitoring equipment on the Al-Bakr and Khor-al-Amaya oil rigs to counter Iranian air operations. The operation resulted in a victory for Iran, which managed to destroy both oil rigs as well as much of the Iraqi Navy and inflicted significant damage to Iraqi ports and airfields.

On 28 November 1980, after Iranian technicians prepared as many aircraft and helicopters as possible, Iranian F-4 Phantoms and F-5 Tiger IIs attacked Iraqi airfields around Basra. They managed to destroy one Iraqi MiG-21 Fishbed on the ground.

During the night of 29 November, six ships of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy's Task Force 421 deployed Iranian marines on the Iraqi oil terminals at Mina al Bakr and Khor-al-Amaya. The marines, supported by Army Aviation's AH-1J Cobras, Bell 214s and CH-47C Chinooks, gunned down most Iraqi defenders during a short firefight, then deployed a large number of bombs and mines. They were then evacuated by helicopter and left the Iraqi oil installations and early warning bases in flames.

At the same time, two Iranian Kaman class (La Combattante IIa missile boats) (Paykan and Joshan) blocked the ports of Al Faw and Umm Qasr, blocking 60 foreign ships and shelling both facilities.

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Wikipedia